Kostrzewa - Privacy vs. Security: Time to rein in NSA

Friday

Jan 3, 2014 at 7:57 AM

Two conflicting, federal court rulings have captured the headlines and set the debate over the growing use of technology and where to draw the line between keeping Americans safe and respecting individual privacy and civil liberties.

John Kostrzewa Assistant Managing Editor johnkostrzewa

Two conflicting, federal court rulings have captured the headlines and set the debate over the growing use of technology and where to draw the line between keeping Americans safe and respecting individual privacy and civil liberties.

In one ruling in early December, Judge Richard J. Leon of Washington called the National Security Administration's collection of phone call data and Internet messages "almost Orwellian" and probably unconstitutional.

Two weeks later, Judge William H. Pauley III of New York took the opposite view. He suggested the NSA's data collection, if it had been in place, could have mitigated the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. He said the NSA program is legal.

But a third, independent perspective, largely lost in the warring court rulings, is the one that should guide public policymakers who will set any new limits on government surveillance.

That viewpoint comes from a five-member advisory panel of legal and intelligence experts that was commissioned by President Obama after Edward Snowden, the former government contractor, allegedly stole and leaked hundreds of thousands of secret documents.

The panel's report, also released in December, found the government has strayed far from its mission of protecting people's security and has created a vast, largely unregulated surveillance program that touches every American.

The panel recommended that the federal government end its bulk phone-data collection and to increase both the transparency and accountability of the program. More specifically, the panel called for federal legislation that requires the government to meet a higher standard before it can order a company to turn over private customer records.

Also, the report said the government should end its mass storage of phone and Internet records. Rather, if it can be proven the records are required for national security, they should be kept by the company that collected them or a third party in order to prevent government abuse.

"Americans must never make the mistake of wholly trusting our public officials," the authors wrote.

I agree.

I also think that the revelations by Snowden, the court rulings and the disclosures by the media in 2013 have exposed the dark side to the digital revolution that has changed the way we live, work and play.

Sure, technology has become so simple and so easy to use that we text, tweet or post to talk with each other. We work on laptops at home, in the office or on the road. We watch movies and play games on mobile devices. We read books on tablets or ereaders.

But because digital technology has advanced so fast, it also is far easier than ever for individuals, businesses or governments to invade our privacy and erode our civil liberties.

Last year, we learned just how widespread the abuses can be.

Snowden's leaks showed that the NSA has for years been sweeping up huge amounts of phone and Internet data of virtually every American, with little oversight.

The social media giants, Google, Facebook and Twitter, disclosed the government routinely asks for and receives huge dumps of data from people who use the sites.

The media have uncovered ways in which we are tracked, monitored and videotaped, all without our knowledge. In its %23eWave series of technology stories, The Providence Journal showed that privacy has all but evaporated in Rhode Island.

The newspaper stories uncovered 48 cameras on Rhode Island's shoreline that capture all the activity on Narragansett Bay. Other reports showed cameras at private businesses record our movements on city streets; unregulated drones can buzz outside our windows; retailers collect data about us from our purchases and loyalty cards to sell us more things; and social media sites collect, analyze, reuse and sometimes sell our personal information.

After all the eye-opening disclosures in 2013, this year is the time for an informed, comprehensive debate -- both locally and nationwide.

At the State House in Providence, there will be reviews of state laws that protect the privacy and liberties of Rhode Islanders while permitting law enforcement officers to do their jobs. Other proposals will attempt to regulate drones before the Federal Aviation Administration sets rules in a few years.

In Washington, President Obama said he welcomes the national debate and is open to reforms. And if he doesn't act, several members of Congress said they are ready to make changes to the government's mass surveillance system.

Good. Let's dig into the issues in which every American has a stake and get the new year off to a fast start.

John Kostrzewa is the Journal's assistant managing editor/business, commerce and consumer issues. Reach him at (401) 277-7330 or email jkostrze@providencejournal.com. Follow his posts at facebook.com/JohnKostrzewa or @JohnKostrzewa on Twitter.